The present disclosure relates to safety equipment for men working on electrical power distribution equipment such as terminal blocks in a substation or the like and more particularly to a device for identifying and covering terminal connections in a terminal block to prevent inadvertent disconnection of electrical connections and subsequent power failures.
Terminal blocks (also called terminal strips, connection terminals or screw terminals) are known to the art and provide a convenient means of connecting individual electrical wires without a splice or physically joining the ends. They are usually used to connect wiring among various items of equipment within an enclosure or to make connections among individually enclosed items. Terminal blocks are readily available for a wide range of wire sizes and terminal quantity. They are widely used in electric substations to connect wires from various sources including control and monitoring equipment.
Terminal Blocks generally are modular, insulated sections that fasten two or more wires together allow wiring to be centralized and make it easier to manage complicated control circuits. When modifications in the circuit must be carried out, terminal blocks can be easily added or removed from a rail or other mounting without interfering with other wire terminations. In addition to minimizing complexity of control wiring, the plastic frames of terminal blocks also protect against shorts and subsequently provide increased safety to installers and service crews.
One disadvantage is that a substation, for example, can house thousands of connecting wires. The connecting wires are not well marked. Furthermore, the terminals are generally not very well protected from contact with persons or foreign conducting materials. In any event, if a technician erroneously disconnects the wrong wires from a terminal block, it can cause power failure, sometimes a catastrophic cascade of power failure in an interconnected power grid.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to have an apparatus for connecting to a terminal block that both covers those wire connections to prevent inadvertent disconnection of wires and resultant power failure, and indicates which connections should be avoided or worked on.